A Long Beach teen charged in the strangling death of a Lynbrook teenager was ordered held without bail Sunday as nearly three dozen distraught relatives and friends of the victim looked on in a crowded Hempstead courtroom.

Maxwell T. Sherman, 18, of 21 Louisiana St., was arrested Saturday and charged with second-degree murder by strangulation in connection with the death of Lauren Daverin,...

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A Long Beach teen charged in the strangling death of a Lynbrook teenager was ordered held without bail Sunday as nearly three dozen distraught relatives and friends of the victim looked on in a crowded Hempstead courtroom.

Maxwell T. Sherman, 18, of 21 Louisiana St., was arrested Saturday and charged with second-degree murder by strangulation in connection with the death of Lauren Daverin, 18.

Sherman's attorney, Jenna Suppon of the Nassau Legal Aid Society, asked Judge David Sullivan for "reasonable" bail at the arraignment in First District Court. Sullivan denied the request and ordered Sherman held at Nassau County Jail until he is due back in court Aug. 28.

"We're hoping that justice will be done," Daverin's sister, Suzanne Caldeira, 30, of Suffolk County said before the hearing.

Daverin's husband, Air Force Airman 1st Class Kashawn Gresham of Freeport, and many in the group of her relatives and friends sobbed as the charges were read aloud.

Daverin's partially clothed and bloodied body was found around 10 p.m. Thursday on the Mill Pond footbridge spanning eastbound Merrick Road in Rockville Centre, police said. Residents nearby described the area as a popular late-night gathering place for teenagers.

Investigators had reviewed Daverin's cellphone records and security camera footage in the area in the hunt for her killer. It was not known Sunday what led detectives to Sherman, the extent of his relationship with Daverin, or a possible motive.

In an interview Friday at the footbridge where Daverin's body was found, Sherman told CBS 2 News that he met her that night and he was "amazed" by the news of her death.

He told the station he saw friends "chilling, hanging out" nearby and stopped briefly to borrow a cigarette from a friend. The reporter asked about his reaction to the slaying. "Amazed, kind of," he replied. "It's right in the middle of town; surprised."

A block from the ocean in Long Beach where police said Sherman lived, residents were stunned to hear that someone from their community could be connected to the killing. A resident who lived about four houses away said the home is a summer rental owned by Sherman's parents, who live in Illinois.

About six miles away, near where Daverin's body was found, a small makeshift memorial started by her family had sprung up Sunday afternoon with three bouquets of flowers, several candles and cards left in her honor.

A poster that read "In loving memory of Lauren Daverin-Gresham," along with three markers attached to strings, was set up on a bridge fence for mourners leaving messages. The family collected the poster late Sunday but made no statement.

A candle placed near a box of tissues read, "Rest in peace Lauren. We love and miss you so much."

Gresham wrote that Daverin "will always be loved a lot and you made me the luckiest man in the world."

Daverin and Gresham were married 10 months ago, a friend said Saturday. The civil ceremony was last October, said the couple's best man, Peter Wadkins.